Arrested
driver lied over identity

A YOUNG woman who pretended she was her housemate to wriggle out of a motoring offence has a suspended prison sentence hanging over her.

Gemma Marie Gill borrowed her friend’s car to take a boyfriend home but was not insured to drive it.

When police stopped the 27-year-old because of a defective light on the Vauxhall she pretended she was Rachel Frost, with whom she lived in Rossington, Doncaster Crown Court was told.

Gill gave the name and date of birth of Ms Frost which resulted in her being summonsed to court for not paying the fixed penalty notice issued by the police, said Carl Fitch, prosecuting.

When Ms Frost attended court the police officer immediately realised she was not the driver who had been stopped in December 2010.

A photo of the driver taken at the time was shown to Ms Frost and she immediately identified her as Gill, who lived with her at the time.

Gill, a single mother, of West End Lane, Rossington, was arrested and said: “I thought I’d get away with it.” She accepted giving false details because the car was not insured for her to drive.

She admitted committing an act tending to pervert the course of justice and was given a three months’ sentence, suspended for a year, with 120 hours of unpaid work. She will also be on a curfew for 28 days and was fined £250 for having no insurance.

Michael Cane-Soothill, defending, said it was fortunate Gill’s friend was not arrested and she confessed.

He said: “I had to sit this lady down and explain just how serious this offence is. She was horrified when I told her. The incident was relatively minor but she panicked because she wasn’t insured.”